As the competition for skilled talent and labour continues, use this Grant to further educate your team and grow the abilities of your company.

The Provincial Government is currently accepting applications and require a complete company training plan with dates, courses and costs that includes individuals and the number of bundled courses over the course of the year.

Winnipeg Construction Association will help you develop your company’s 2017-2018 education plan by identifying your training needs and solutions through the WCA Education Program, Construction Safety Association of Manitoba or any other accredited training provider.

Contact Peggy Zurkan, Manager, Learning & Development by email at peggy@winnipegconstruction.ca or call her at (204) 775-8664 ext. 2248 to learn more about the Canada Job Grant Program and how your business can benefit from this opportunity.

Invest in Planning, Reap the Rewards

Canada Job Grant Gets Traction with Lowe Mechanical Services

An initiative of the Federal/Provincial Government, the Grant is designed to help employees gain the skills they need to enter the workforce, and for the employer to gain access to skilled labour that meets their needs.

It’s been reported that 47 employers in Manitoba have been approved for funding under this program, with 1,600 workers now receiving training.

“Under the Canada Job Grant in Manitoba, the federal government provides two-thirds of total eligible training costs, up to $10,000 [per employee], for expenses such as tuition, textbooks and student fees, while the Manitoba government delivers the program. Employers are required to contribute the remaining one-third of these training costs, while small businesses have additional flexibility to make in-kind contributions toward their share of the cost through wages paid to the training participant.” Quoted from a news release, “Governments of Canada and Manitoba celebrate Canada Job Grant success” from the Government of Canada, May 1, 2015.

Lowe Mechanical recently received approval for their upcoming employee training program, worth $65,000. As an employer, Lowe is responsible to pay for 1/3 of that amount.

The brainchild behind the application, Jennifer Lowe, Vice President of Lowe Mechanical, says that the process was seamless and helped her map out a framework for individuals in the company and their training path.

“It’s definitely changed our mandate. I believe it’s allowed us to better plan for each individual and their path over the next year,” says Jennifer. “It does force you to look at that.”

With this grant, Lowe Mechanical will be able to train approximately 50% of their entire workforce made up of 92 employees. For many years, the focus of their training program was safety, and now they are looking at ramping up training on soft skills such as leadership, supervision, project management and more.

“Now that we have the opportunity with the job grant, we are focusing in other areas that we want to get into.”

As part of their training program, Lowe Mechanical is looking to train most of their employees through Winnipeg Construction Association’s robust education program.

“I like the quality of the courses and the facilities,” says Jennifer. “There’s really good value, and us being members, there are big savings.”

In the past year, a few of Lowe’s employees attended various supervisory and project management courses.

Jennifer says, “They have gained a ton of knowledge already and they’re better organized and they understand more. It’s definitely a huge asset already and that was just from a few courses.”